Inkjet printers can be used to print text, pictures, or other graphics by propelling droplets of liquid printing fluid onto a piece of printer paper or other media. Such printers will often include printer cartridges that house multiple printing fluid reservoirs that feed to corresponding cartridge printheads. The reservoirs will often contain different color printing fluids so as to allow the printer to print color graphics. For example, a printer cartridge can include a first reservoir that contains cyan printing fluid, a second reservoir that contains magenta printing fluid, a third reservoir that contains yellow printing fluid, and a fourth reservoir that contains black printing fluid.
The various reservoirs of such a printer cartridge can be pressurized via a priming process through the use of pressurized air provided from an air pump or other pressure source. Printers that can prime, de-prime, and purge air bubbles from the printhead can offer a user distinct advantages. For example, air bubbles trapped in printheads can cause undesired print artifacts. Actively and rapidly removing air bubbles from the printhead by priming the printhead can allow a user to rectify print problems without replacing the printhead.